This Week in Sports Talk (TWIST) is our weekly report on the big sports news headlines and major events, plus a preview of what’s up next. For September 11, 2022, here are the weekly top 10 sports news headlines to know: the big stories and major events in sports news this week in the NFL, MLB, the US Open and more.

weekly top 10 big sports news headlines and major events: September 11, 2022

It’s football season, in case somehow you missed the memo. To get the NFL season started, here are five pop quiz questions that should serve you well when you’re chatting during the commercial breaks later today, or hanging out at the water cooler tomorrow. Answers are at the end of this post, courtesy of our friends at Statista.

1. As of February 2022, which NFL team had the most Twitter followers?
2. As of September 2022, which NFL team had the highest number of Facebook fans?
3. Last season, which NFL team had the highest average regular season attendance?
4. Which NFL franchise had the highest average ticket price last season?
5. What’s the average price of a beer at an NFL game?

Here are 10 top headlines from the world of sports to know this Sunday.

1. Bills score decisive win over Super Bowl champion Rams in Thursday Night Football.

Last year’s Super Bowl-champion Rams hosted the first game of the NFL season in the same stadium where they won it all just a few short months ago. And the Buffalo Bills rolled right over them with a 31-10 win.

Quarterback Josh Allen started his quest for a Super Bowl ring with a bang, throwing for three touchdowns and running for another. CBS Sports notes that Allen completed 26 of 31 passes for an 84 percent completion rate, a franchise record.

On defense, the Bills’ Von Miller made it clear that he intends to prove he’s worth every penny of his six-year, $120 million deal with Buffalo. The Bills are the favorites to win the Super Bowl this season – and you can see why.

Meanwhile, the Rams vastly underperformed expectations, despite the fact that many of their stars are back on the field this season, including Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. It’s way too early to draw any conclusions. So let’s all stay calm.

2. Week 1 of the NFL season rolls on today.

Notable games to close out Week 1, courtesy of Sports Illustrated, include:

• The Green Pay Packers-Minnesota Vikings game will give both teams a chance to show off a new look. Green Bay is playing without Davante Adams, who was traded offseason. Watch to see how the new receivers show up for the Packers. Meanwhile, the Vikings have a new coach, Kevin O’Connell, and a new GM. Who surely want to win this one.
• The New York Jets will be without starting quarterback Zach Wilson when they open their season against the Baltimore Ravens. He’ll be out until at least Week 4 recovering from knee surgery. Meanwhile, the Ravens couldn’t reach a deal with their quarterback Lamar Jackson, despite rumors that he was offered even more than Russell Wilson. Jackson is betting on himself, and will play this season on the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
• The Kansas City Chiefs-Arizona Cardinals game will be the first look at how Patrick Mahomes is going to show up this season.
• Finally, today’s LV Raiders-LA Chargers game is a rematch of last season’s playoff elimination between the AFC rivals. In case you’ve forgotten, if that game had ended in a tie, then both teams would make the playoffs. But even though the game was tied 32-32 late in overtime, the Raiders decided to kick the winning field goal and send the Chargers into the offseason. Lots of things have changed on the rosters and in the front office for both teams. The Chargers are going to be looking for revenge – or is it redemption?

In general, this season the AFC West should be the division to watch. Sports writers are already calling the four franchises –  the Raiders, Chargers, Chiefs, and Broncos – “the group of death.”

3. American Tiafoe defeats Nadal in a history-making run to the semifinals.

American Frances Tiafoe, 24, entered the US Open seeded 22nd (regular readers of this column will remember him as our cover star earlier this year while Wimbledon was underway).

In a truly stunning match last Sunday, he upset No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinal. CBS Sports notes that this was the first quarterfinal Nadal has missed since Wimbledon in 2017, and that Tiafoe is the first American to defeat Rafa in a major since 2005.

Tiafoe met No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals and won in straight sets, becoming the the first African-American man to make a US Open semifinal since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

But the Cinderella story came to a dramatic end in his semifinal match, when Carlos Alcaraz, the young phenom from Spain, emerged victorious after almost 5 hours of intense play.

While the loss was disappointing, Tiafoe’s run has given fans hope that an American man may soon be competing at the top rungs of tennis. ‘Cause the last time an American man won a Grand Slam was Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. As Lizzo would say, it’s about damn time that someone brings home a win.

4. Alcaraz meets Ruud in the men’s final.

No. 4 Carlos Alcaraz, 19, is the favorite in today’s men’s singles final match against No. 7 Casper Ruud, 23. And the stakes couldn’t be higher for these two.

The New York Times notes that the winner of today’s U.S. Open men’s singles title will also become the next world No. 1. And whichever player wins will hold the top spot for the first time.

Both men have already achieved a great deal. Ruud is the first Norwegian man to reach a U.S. Open singles final. Alcaraz is the youngest man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Rafael Nadal at the French Open in 2005. He’s the youngest man to reach a U.S. Open singles final since Pete Sampras in 1990. (It’s worth noting that Nadal and Sampras both won the titles at age 19).

5. Swiatek wins US Open women’s final.

This year’s US Open will probably always be remembered as Serena Williams’ final outing at the Grand Slam tournament that she dominated for so many years. But it seems that the torch is already being passed to the next generation – and the new Queen of Tennis may very well be Iga Swiatek.

Last night in Flushing Meadows, No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland defeated Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in straight sets to win the U.S. Open women’s singles title. It’s been an amazing run for her this year, as she also won the French Open earlier this year. This is Swiatek’s first U.S. Open singles title; her third Grand Slam title; and her first on a surface other than clay.

6. NL East heats up with Braves surging.

The NL East has become the most exciting division in MLB, as the New York Mets (87-52) and Atlanta Braves (87-51) vie for the division crown. The Mets led the division by 10.5 games at the start of June. But as of this posting, they’re a half-game behind Atlanta. The third-place Phillies are 11 back, so this is a two-horse race.

The LA Dodgers remain at the top of the NL, 18 ahead of their division rivals, the once-surging San Diego Padres.

In the AL East, the New York Yankees (84-56) are holding onto the top spot, 4.5 games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. But the Houston Astros (89-49)  lead in the AL, which is making the Yanks crazy. Hopes for a New York Subway Series for the World Series are not totally dashed – yet – but it’s not looking good . . .

7. Will Judge make Home run history?

Whatever may happen to the Yankees this season, it seems certain that it will be a historic year for their slugger Aaron Judge.

The AL home run record is 61, hit by Yankees slugger Roger Maris in 1961. There are only eight 60-home run seasons in MLB history. And now all eyes are on Judge, who is currently at 55 – putting him on pace to hit 64.

Meanwhile, this week the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols hit career home run number 695, one short of tying former Yankee Alex Rodriguez for fourth of all time. He announced that this will be his last season – and what a way to go out!

8. College football weekly wrap.

The first weekend of college football was Labor Day weekend, and the favorites prevailed in most cases.

The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs defended their national championship title with a 49-3 win over No. 11 Oregon. And the defensive line of No. 2 Ohio State led the team to a 21-10 win over No. 5 Notre Dame. And No. 4 Clemson started the season with a 41-10 victory over Georgia Tech.

Notable Week 1 upsets include Florida‘s win over Utah and Florida State ruining new LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s debut.

With Week 2 now in the books, the most anticipate game of this weekend was the SEC’s Alabama v. Texas. Of course, the Crimson Tide was the favorite. But in the end, No.1 Alabama very nearly lost to No. 22 Texas. They narrowly avoided an upset, with a 20-19 victory.

The season is off to a terrible start for first-year Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who is the first coach in program history to lose his first three games. Last week’s 21-10 setback to Ohio State might have been understandable. But this week’s 26-21 loss to Marshall is highly unfortunate.

9. What happened in the NBA this summer?

We haven’t covered the NBA in a bit in this weekly report, so it seems like a good moment for a wrap-up of what went on in the league this summer, courtesy of CBS Sports.

In the end, both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are staying in Brooklyn, despite both having demanded a trade at one point, and despite many tabloid headlines and hands wrung.

While everyone thought that Donovan Mitchell was heading for New York, somehow the Knicks couldn’t close and the Cleveland Cavaliers landed him.

Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert was traded from the Utah Jazz to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And within hours of the official start of 2022 free agency, NBA teams had already committed a total of over $1 billion to just five players: Ja Morant, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal, and Nikola Jokic. Shortly afterward, Zion Williamson signed a 5-year contract extension that could be worth as much as $231 million.

10. Jeter launches new sports card trading platform.

Former Captain of the New York Yankees and erstwhile Chief Executive of the Miami Marlins franchise, Derek Jeter, 48, is continuing to pursue post-retirement business ventures. This week, he announced the launch of Arena Club, a platform meant to digitize the sports memorabilia market.

Collectors will peruse sports cards for sale digitally, while the physical cards are stored in an Arena Club vault. After purchase, buyers receive a digital proof of claim – or they can request that the physical card be shipped to them in a “protective slab.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that the new venture has arrived just as the market for sports trading cards is hitting new highs. Last month, a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million. The seller originally paid $50,000 for the card in 1991. Fanatics Inc. launched a similar venture earlier this year.

This model has worked well for collectors in contemporary art (looking at you, Artsy) – we expect that at least one of these two new ventures will turn out to be nearly as valuable as a mint condition Derek Jeter trading card.

Weekly Top sports news headlines and major events to know: September 11, 2022

That’s our take on the big sports news headlines and major events, and a preview of the week ahead, including what to know about football, tennis, baseball and more.

Our friendly NFL pool is up and running, and so far, it’s looking good. We made the right pick in the one NFL game that’s in the books this season. Wish us luck – there’s a long way to go.

Have a great week, dear reader. See you next Sunday.

Pop quiz answers: (1) New England Patriots. (2 & 3) Dallas Cowboys. (4) Las Vegas Raiders. (5) $9.25.

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Pamela Thomas-Graham is the Founder & CEO of Dandelion Chandelier. A Detroit native, she has 3 Harvard degrees and has written 3 mystery novels. After serving as a senior corporate executive, CEO of CNBC and partner at McKinsey, she now serves on the boards of several tech companies. She’s all in with the Pats, the Warriors, the Red Sox and the Wolverines. Also Naomi and Coco. And Roger. She would like to thank her advisors on the Sports Desk, without whom this column definitely would not be possible.